Tigers cry foul over officiating in defeat to Hammers

Mighty Tigers were left frustrated by the officiating in their 2-1 defeat to Mzuzu City Hammers in the TNM Super League on Wednesday afternoon.

The Kau-Kau Boys suffered their 10th defeat of the season at Mzuzu Stadium in a game which they had started brightly, looking to halt their six-game winless run.

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Tigers took the lead after 27 minutes when Mwayi Banda pounced on a rebound from Greyson Msowoya’s saved shot to beat the goalkeeper. However, they let the advantage slip as Hammers found an equalizer seven minutes later before securing victory from a controversial penalty nine minutes into the second half.

Speaking after the game, Tigers coach White Suzumire claimed his team were denied by a dubious penalty decision.

“It’s a really painful defeat. You have seen that the penalty wasn’t supposed to be a penalty. The referee gave them a penalty—I don’t know if they want to rescue them [Hammers]—but that was not a penalty,” he said.

“Even some supporters were shouting out there. He just gave them the game.”

Tigers will now turn their attention to another league match against Moyale Barracks on Sunday afternoon at the same venue.

Suzumire said his team will regroup and prepare properly for the encounter to secure a positive result.

“This game has gone and we will now prepare for our next game against Moyale Barracks. We didn’t perform well in the first half, but in the second half we played very well,” he added.

Mighty Tigers have now gone seven games without a victory and remain in the bottom three of the table with 16 points from 18 games. They have won just four games, drawn four, and lost the remaining 10 matches this season.